Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by smanders:

"From the land of sky blue waters, waters." This BMC-equivalent was enjoyed at Margie's Bar in Eveleth, MN, after a week of canoeing in the Boundary Waters. Smells like weak malt. Tastes watered down. And it's dirt cheap. What's not to love about Hamms? Heck, try this beer for the old-time commercials only. Believe me, you're not drinking Hamms for the taste.

More User Reviews:

appearance has a yellow and gold look with moderate amount of carbonation. Hams smells like your typical american adjunct lager grainy and cook vegetables. Taste is grainy and smooth. It is very easy drinking beer . Mouthfeel is light but not watery . Overall hams I the top tasting cheap american lagers on market and cam compete with other lagers wich are priced higher .

The flavor profile was clean and crisp with lots of tart lemon and wheaty notes. Decent malt presence. The malt profile was grainy and even perhaps slightly toasty. A touch of earthy hops came through on the semi-bitter finish. All in all, quite notable for the style.

The mouthfeel was solid as well. Medium-plus bodied. A fine and zippy effervescence gave the liquid a smooth, fluffy, creaminess.

Of the many adjunct lagers that I have tried lately, Hamm's ranks up there with the best of them. At around $6 a six-pack, you simply cannot find a better deal.

My favorite cheap beer. No one will touch it in your fridge, and I personally prefer it to PBR. Scored this for 11.99/30pk and miss the days when it was 6.99/24pk!!!

Seriously cheap beer, but not bad at all if you are in the proper mindset for slumming. Keep in mind that your lady friend will give you strange looks for obtaining and drinking this beer, but do not be deterred. You have made a value-based decision and you are in for a full 30pk/24pk/6pk of cheap, alcohol-laced enjoyment. Rather than tell you about the corn and quickly disappearing head, let's focus on the fact that I would take a frosty Hamm's over a MGD any day of the week (even though Miller contract brews this stuff!)

Excellent beer if you are watching Pawn Stars or Porn Stars, but not so good if you are trying improve your social standing. On the plus side, you can recycle all those cans and get drunk in the process. Way to save the earth and support a union-made product, you patriot! Just don't be the dick that leaves the empties all over your college quad, sorority house, rust-belt hometown, or loading dock of your soon-to-be-former place of employment. Folks will talk about your piggish addiction to Hamm's and wonder why you are living in the slop.

I'm pretty sure if there was a purgatory for yeast, this would be it. Not heaven, not hell, but somewhere vaguely in-between.

A: Pours a golden color, perhaps a shade darker than you bud, miller, what have you. Lots of tiny carbonation bubbles, the head was a soapy two fingers that hangs around and leaves some nice patchy lace.

T: Sweet grains, just a smattering of soapy grassy hop bitterness, maybe a bit if of lemon, clean, inoffensive, finishes dry. Drink it cold and fast, as it warms it becomes a bit rough around the edges with the corn becoming more apparent.

M: Medium and highly carbonated, average for the style with maybe just a bit more heft. Drinks pretty smooth though.

O: Not bad, makes for a good lawn mower beer. Holds its own for sure against more highly priced offerings in the style. The old school can is really cool as well.

“From the land of sky blue waters…” Apparently that’s Milwaukie these days.

16oz tallboy can from a 6-pk purchased at a local discount grocery store for $4.79. Easily the cheapest 6-pk I’ve bought for a long time, probably a couple of years.

Poured into a Jever pilsener glass, this was a chill-hazed gold color, with a big, sudsy, noisy, bone-white head that dropped fast and left remarkably small amounts of lace on the sides of the glass. Said head could be agitated back to life with minimal effort, but it dropped back down to a foamy skiff, pronto. Lots of tiny bubbles could be seen hurtling skyward.

Although it was done for absurdity more than anything else, the pour into a pilsener glass was not completely out of place. Although the primary scent was of crude graininess, there was a little bit of dry, grassy European hoppiness that wasn’t to be denied. It’s a minor note, however, and the nose remained dominated by the crude, overly sweet malt aroma.

Inoffensively bland, that’s the taste in a nutshell. Not as vegetable oil-tasting as some in the style, but I suspect that’s because I’m drinking it ice cold rather than any superiority over its style mates. Sweet malts dominate the taste, with barely a trace of the hops scented earlier. Slightly crisp finish, with a mild, sickly sweet grainy aftertaste.

Watery, yet not light. I suppose it’s pretty standard for the style, but it’s not what I would call good. It’s more like a pilsener with a little too much body.

About par for the course. This isn’t the worst American adjunct lager I’ve had, but there’s not much to stand out here. All in all, I’d rather have an Oly if drinking this style.

Appearance: Had this one at a party directly from the can, so I can't say that I actually saw the beer itself. Not a terrible looking can though. For cheap adjunct lager, however, I must say that PBR takes the crown.

Smell: Smells similar to PBR- light and corny, which some malt discernible through the sweetness. Very uncomplicated and 'beery'.

Taste: Actually not too shabby. This one, though rated much lower than PBR, didn't taste much better or worse than it. For a cheap go-to party beer, this is definitely a step up from the BMC light options, since I could actually taste something of the beer even though it was in an ice bath.

Mouthfeel: Nicely carbonated. Makes the beer supremely drinkable.

Overall: Truly not a terrible option for a cheap, easily drinkable beer for social events where drinking for taste is not the primary goal. This would be a good option for college parties, tailgates, and other social events where you want an unassertive crowd pleaser that is a step up from ice-cold light lagers.

Sampling right now on 8/7/14, but had this once before back in 2012. Last time was in a 12 ounce can, this is a 16 ouncer. Bought a 6-16 ouncer for $4.98 yesterday at the local 'No Frills' grocery store. can(s) chilled down to 36 degrees in my beer cooler and poured into a vintage 'Hamm's' pilsner hour-glass from the late 1960's.

Pours a pale straw-yellow in color with a thin white head that settles down to just along the sides of the glass. Lots of small streaming bubbles are seen rising from the bottom of the glass. Good carbonation. Some very light spotty lacing is seen when sipped. The aroma is of sweet grass/grains with a hint of floral and hay even. The taste is pretty close to the aroma with some corn sweetness in the mix as well. A little light-bodied but decent. Goes down easy and is really cent for the price as you can buy a 30-pack for $14.98 or a 6 of 'Tall Boys' for just $4.98. Overall not a bad brew.

look...I love craft beer but I'm sick of every microbrewery trying to do a pale ale, an IPA, a stout, and a Hefeweizen. Some branch out to triples or quads but they all run together. I still love my craft beer but on most nights, I just want a few freaking beers that I don't have to think about or pay a lot for. Hamms is probably the best of the bunch. I pay $12 for a 30 pack. Bud or Miller Lite would be twice that. I love livin' the high life but its $8 for a 12 pack of bottles in my area so Hamms is a great alternative. Good tasting, old fashioned beer, cheap, and refreshing. Besides that the can has a definite old-school ambiance.

I have this in my beer fridge on a regular basis. It's my work in the yard and lawn mower beer. When you don't want a craft beer and it's not the place or time for one. It's an easy drinking adjunct American Lager retro beer. When you drink it you have visions of a simpler time in America. It's fun to take a 30 pack to family who can't get it and view their amazement it's still around. If you haven't tried it give it a try. Remember it's not a craft but an a American Original. Think Hamms Bear.

Hamms is a solid beer and great for drinking when PBR and Schlitz arent available. Its very bitter for the style, putting BMC brews to shame. The best part about drinking Hamms is that when you drink it, people watching all think, Wow, now thats a MAN! well, either that or, Wow, now thats a drunk! Hamms appearance is very similar to its cousins PBR, Old Style, Schlitz, and Blatz. When you poor Hamms into a glass (which should always be frosted because Hamms in a frosted glass has no negative flavors what-so-ever) you will see that it has a two inch thick, frothy white head for nearly 1.3 seconds. After that the froth becomes a thin, glass clinging lace. The body is hydrated urine with tons of carbonation. Hamms has a great lightly hopped metallic aroma and really tells you that the slightest amount of malt just might be involved someplace in the beer. The taste is even better and makes it obvious that Hamms is only made with sky blue waters. There is even a little bit of grain in Hamms. The Mouthfeel is light and as aforementioned, bitter. It goes down really well. The only bad thing about Hamms is that its proudly made by Unions, which means that for every $8 you spend on a case, a penny or so is going to eliminate American jobs and ruin our economy. Thats just sad but overall, the strong points of Hamms more then make up for that one small down side.

I believe this is the best cheap beer out there, at $12.19 a thirty it's an unbelievable value for me, way above Stag, PBR, or Milwaukee's best (witch I tend to consume in high volume). It's no craft beer by any means, but for a classic American beer this is a home run for me.

Presentation: 12oz can. "Brewed in true family tradition from purest water and choicest barley malt, grain and hops." adorns the can. No identifiable freshness date, but there is a batch number.

Appearance: Pours a nice frothy white, two finger head that quickly settles to a thin lace. The clear liquid is a very pale, straw yellow.

Smell: Light hops, grain and a metallic edge in the aroma.

Taste: This light-bodied brew is immediately crisp and freshing with a smack of lemon in its gentle hop bite. Notes of salt also come into play as the brew dries with a nice crispness. Grain flavours follow with a thin, but even, sweetness. I can also pick-up on an addition of corn as the beer warms. The beer finishes with metallic and grain flavours with some dryness to it.

Notes: This is a damn fine "Union Made" beer, and certainly better than its more marketable brethren. It's simple and easy to drink, but the best part is its $2.99 a 6-pak price tag.

This is not as bad as expected. It is not a great beer, in fact, it borders on crap. But I wouldn't complain if I got one on a hot summer day. Pours straw yellow, with a dry white head which is gone in seconds. Taste is of corn. Hoppiness is weak. Very little if any malt flavor. Still, an interesting American lager.